Conflicting Shadows
by Gloomy Shadows
Summary: After Shadow suddenly disappears with reasons unknown, Sonic and friends must find out just what a hassle life can be without their friend at their side in times of need, while Shadow goes through problems of his own. With old enemies approaching, the safety of the Earth now constantly being tested and much more, how will everybody handle this mess? Shadouge/Sonamy/Silvaze/Crails
1. Prologue

Leaves softly crunched under the shoe of a silhouetted figure, who was hidden in the murky shadows of the creeping night. The said figure pursed his lips together tightly, his ruby eyes scanning the horizon, as if a threat was to appear around him. He shook his head and continued to walk close to the buildings that surrounded him, glad for the shade that was hiding his form. He looked around once more while he crouched low against the ground. He then leaped upwards and latched onto the side of a large building.

With a low grunt, he pulled himself upwards and stared ahead. He also found himself doing a double-take reluctantly as his eyes met with a picture posted on a large billboard. It almost seemed as if the ever-famous Sonic the Hedgehog was grinning out at him, giving him a 'thumbs up' as a bonus, as that was what the picture represented. Normally, people would get ecstatic or calmed by the sight of the world's ever-so-loving hero... Everyone but the person glaring at the billboard right at the moment, the much-known Shadow the hedgehog.

"That _damn_ faker is everywhere." Shadow muttered under his breath in distaste. Shaking his head once more, he turned his attention to his task-at-hand. He had been given a mission and he would _not _fool around when given an important task. His priority was set and he would not get distracted by any means. He clenched his right hand into a fist, his eyes now narrowed as he began to recap on the information he acquired so far. There was a _very_suspicious man around these areas that had been noted to resemble the description perfectly of a man who, with the help of some very smart unknown mechanics and a lot of deadly bombs, had almost perfectly succeeded to destroy all of Westopolis. The city would have been destroyed, if it wasn't for Sonic's right-hand man, Miles 'Tails' Prower, who had been able to stop the timed bomb professionally before it had exploded.

"Well now, you are not getting that far with your plots again." Shadow proclaimed silently as he moved himself to stand on his feet. "The next day, I was to catch and defeat you and that day has come. You had almost killed too many lives '_human'_. Neither Maria nor I would have ever accepted that fact." Pulling his arms back a little, Shadow began to fiercely jump across the roofs of several buildings, his speed half of its full power and his attention as full as ever.

Suddenly, all his determination faltered as he heard a _painfully _familiar, cocky voice break through his thoughts; one that he loathed to hear, especially while on a serious case like this. "Terios!" Sonic called out. Shadow turned around and slowly raised an eye ridge.

"Terios?" he repeated quietly in confusion, looking around to see who Sonic was exactly referring to. Seeing no one else around, he slowly turned his attention back to the azure hedgehog.

"What are you looking me like _that _for?" the hedgehog questioned cheerily, his hands to his side as he ducked his head lower. A sly smile crept up his lips and it was one that Shadow wanted to wipe clear off his face.

"What kind of language are you speaking in?" Shadow questioned slowly, his eyes narrowed impatiently.

"What do ya mean?" Sonic quipped quickly, his own eyes clouded with confusion. "English obviously!" He began to tap his foot as he cocked his head to the side slightly.

Shadow growled softly. "I have no time for your foolishness, Sonic." To Shadow's surprise, Sonic began to have that same look as Shadow himself did when Sonic called him 'Terios'.

"Are you giving me a nick-name or something?" Sonic asked in a confused tone, his face becoming slightly more serious, then annoyed. "If you are, I don't like it! You already call me faker on small occasions, that is enough already!" Shadow had enough by this point; he had already wasted too much time on this mission.

"_Faker_, quit it. I have a mission to do and I don't want _you_ruining it." Shadow barked. Sonic's eyes slowly widened.

"You have a _mission_?" he repeated eagerly. "Man, who'd ya get it from? I _never _get any missions anymore." 'Sonic' crossed his arms begrudgingly, his expression that of a pouting child.

"You…had to save Soleanna a few days ago from a large threat Eggman had provoked..." Shadow began slowly. Sonic raised an eye ridge now.

"Eggman? Who is 'Eggman'?" he then began to frown softly. "Did ya hit your head or something, Terios?" he asked innocently. Shadow clenched his fists in pure frustration now. The hedgehog was getting on his temper, playing all 'idiotic'.

"Stop fooling with me! I have to find the person responsible for almost entirely blowing up Westopolis." The last thing Shadow expected from the faker was to hear him chuckle after a while of silence. Sonic was never seen more proud when he had found out about Tails' accomplishments. He knew that Sonic would never blow away his _little pal's_ success just like that. Now Shadow began to wonder...

"Westopolis? Blow up? Nothing like that happens anymore. At least...not since Julian Kintobor was captured and finally defeated..." The faker scratched his head in thought.

"Julian...Kintobor..." The name _seemed_familiar, but nothing too familiar. _Is this the doctor of this universe? Huh? This _universe_... Is this _really _another universe? The faker _is _acting strange though..._His mind was buzzing with questions and thoughts. "What was I...planning to do today...?" Shadow asked in a low voice. 'Sonic' shrugged.

"Probably would've gone off to visit Nails...maybe Venice while you're at it." he then grinned. "Knuckles would be pretty jealous though if ya did the first option."

"Knuckles?" Shadow was confused. On one hand, some people seemed to have 'different names', while on the other, some seemed to stay the same.

"And may I ask _who _is this 'Nails' and 'Venice' you speak of?" Shadow grumbled lowly. Sonic frowned worriedly.

"You really _did _hit your head or something..." he grumbled. "Venice is a time traveler, a hedgehog just like us. Nails is your best friend and is also a person who Knuckles has a deep crush on. It's so amusing for Tails and I to watch his failed attempts at catching her attention."

A friend…? Someone who Knuckles had a crush on... Who could that be...!

"Though she'll never take her attention from those jewels of hers to him." he mused. Shadow blinked, almost taken aback. _Rouge? What kind of a name was 'Nails' for a girl? Much less _Rouge! For some reason as well, his stomach seemed to churn at the thought of Knuckles and Rouge together. A feeling that was quite...unknown to him…

"Could you...take me to them faker…?" Shadow mumbled, embarrassed by asking the azure hedgehog for help. The said person grinned.

"Sure..." He then began to walk away, but paused to turn back his head in the direction of the moody ebony hedgehog. "And by the way, since you seem to play 'forgetful' with our names... My name is Needlemouse, Needlemouse the Hedgehog."

.

. . .

.

Sonic the Hedgehog began to get worried as he paced around in Tails' workshop, his eyes troubled. "Where _is _he...?" Sonic murmured, continuing to pace. His best friend, Tails, dropped his tools that he had been using.

"Shadow _will _show up Sonic. I don't know why you are so worried!" Tails exclaimed as he brushed his forehead in exhaustion with his arm.

"-But... Not even _Rouge _knows where he is! She _always _does! He has been gone for days!" Sonic resorted back. Tails shook his head and placed all his attention on the blue blur.

"Rouge doesn't always have to know where he is." he pointed out. Sonic just frowned just frowned at this news. He knew that to be true, but he couldn't help but wonder...

"He has been called for several missions, apparently even by the Commander of G.U.N. himself... Eggman had attacked us yesterday and he didn't show up there, either! I'm getting sort of worried..."

"It is probably nothing. Maybe he wanted some alone time. You know how Shadow can be sometimes." The fox kit slowly began to get back to work on a high-tech model of a chaos energy tracker, an invention he had created not too long ago.

"Yeah..." Sonic started slowly. He then stopped in his tracks and turned to face his longest friend. "-But Rouge said at the day of his disappearance: 'his room almost looked like someone had broken into it...'" Tails sighed dramatically.

"He could just be a messy guy." he explained with a weak smile. Sonic frowned, crossing his arms behind his back. He hated knowing his friend may be in deep trouble. He hated it even more when there was nothing he could do about it.

"I am going to go see Rouge." he announced finally, walking over to one of the tall shelves of the workshop which held a sparkling jewel, a Chaos Emerald. He then slowly began to turn Tails afterwards. "Wanna come with me?" he asked. Tails nodded his head.

"Just need to finish this little bit and..." Tails tweaked with his machine a bit more. "-Done!" Sonic grinned and gave his friend a curt nod.

"C'mon then…" Walking over to his approaching friend, he gripped gently at his shoulders. "Chaos Control!" he called out and the two disappeared in a flash. After a while, Sonic pried his eyes open. "Wow, that trick does come in handy."

Looking around, the two friends wandered around the club-like area of the building until a voice called out to then, making the two stiffen. "Well boys, what manners you two have! Breaking into a friend's house without even an invitation, tsk…" The two heard a thump of her feet landing on the floor and the two then turned to face her.

"Hey Rouge." Sonic greeted, slightly sheepishly. Tails echoed the greeting softly. Sonic then titled his head, going out of his character to cut the small talk and go straight to business. "Have you seen Shadow lately yet?" He saw Rouge's cheerful expression falter as she then slowly shook her head. Sonic frowned at this.

"That's a bummer..." he then scratched the back of his head nervously. "Well with all the worrying...I guess we have been thinking this problem through a bit _too _much, so why don't we just stop. Today is Halloween anyway!" He then gave Rouge a wink. "I am going as a vampire, so you should watch your neck Rouge." he chimed. Sonic then turned to Tails and cheerfully wrapped an arm around his buddy's neck. "And my lil' buddy is going as a..." he paused, attempting to remember his friend's attire. Seeing his friend's puzzled face, Tails decided to help.

"-A zombie!" Tails chirped. Sonic grinned and nodded his head eagerly.

"What are you going to go as?" Tails asked, then paused and quickly added. "…if you _are _going of course." Rouge sighed and rolled his eyes, though she couldn't hold back a little grin at the child's shyness. Tails continued to stutter, either not seeing Rouge's actions or completely ignoring it. "-Because you know, Sonic and everybody is holding a Halloween party... We all hardly get to see each other, except when something bad is happening, or if there is a birthday party!" Tails added as an afterthought.

Rouge moved to the side and pointed to a piece of cloth that rested on the couch. It was a costume of a witch that held all the accessories needed, from the famous pointy hat, to even the broom of a witch. Sonic snorted but grinned nonetheless.

"What else would ya be?" Sonic shot back. Rouge frowned and placed her hands on her hips.

"I _would _go as something else, but I use most of my money on the things I need to live off of...and jewels." she snapped back, glowering at the teenager. Sonic held out his hands in surrender.

"Okay, okay, I get it." he stated quickly. "At least you _are _coming." He then turned around, his head facing Rouge though as he gave her a thumbs up. "It's getting late, so put on your costume! We could all go together and treat some humans by visiting their house!" he then added, "They might just give you a jewel, knowing that you like 'em." It wasn't too hard to get Rouge to agree on the plan after that was said. The two guys left Rouge soon after and Rouge herself was left alone by the doorway between her living room and the bar part of her house.

No one was there to see her frown softly. No one was there to see her turn her head and close her eyes in sorrow to the direction of her living room, to an article of clothing that lay softly on the couch beside a coffee table. It was Shadow's costume. The costume the two friends had picked out together weeks before his disappearance, one of the last times she had seen him before he left. "Shadow..."

**A/N: (Edit) To clear some things up, just in case, I would like to explain that the first chapter was mentioning a lot of Halloween themes, but the story isn't based on Halloween or anything. Also, if the first chapter seems confusing, then you shall find all the answers you need in the later chapters, where the plot shall unfold more. If you see anything you'd like to change or dislike, please explain. Constructive criticism is welcomed.**


	2. Surprise Attack

Silver the hedgehog frowned. The expression was known to be on the hedgehog a lot, coming from a future that was destined to be devastated. Shadow had been one of his closest friends and Silver was one of the very few who were taking his disappearance to heart. 'Where could he be?' he mumbled aloud. He glared down at the ground stubbornly and seeing a rock by his foot, he began to take his anger on the inanimate object.

"Silver, what is the use of that?" A familiar feminine voice spoke aloud. Silver turned around to face one of his closest friends as of recently, Blaze the cat. Sonic had introduced them to each other and they had found out that they seemed quite fond of each other's company. Slowly, Silver shook his head at her words.

"Everything bad happens to me..." he ranted, crossing his arms over his chest. "I come from a dreaded future, so then I come to the past to fix it, in turn making it look bleak again." Silver sighed and decided to sit on the grass below his feet. Who was he kidding; he was in a meadow _full _of grass. There was nowhere else to sit. Twisting his expression to an almost pouting one, he began to murder the grass around himself that Mother Nature had ever so carefully planted around.

"Stop that Silver." Blaze sighed as she walked over to him. She made sure she had a tight grip around his arm to stop his foolish actions. "Pouting around won't help." Silver sighed and pulled his arm away from the cat, slamming the same fist onto the ground. He turned to look her in the eye.

"Then what _should _I do?" he muttered. Blaze sighed and took a seat beside the silver hedgehog.

"Well, you shouldn't throw a temper tantrum. That won't help anyone." she then sighed and let her own fingers wander off to dwindle with a strand of grass, only she didn't pull at it. "You really take your job seriously, don't you?" Silver's eyes retreated slowly to the ground, eying the movement of Blaze's hand silently. After a while, Silver spoke up.

"...Yes..." He then shook his head slightly. "-But it is only because I was raised like that! I can't grow strong bonds without people getting hurt, I can't trust anyone-" he paused and slowly stopped speaking when he noticed Blaze had rested her hand on top of his own. A gesture of comfort... He never got many of those from where he came from.

"You are not in your future anymore Silver, you _can _make friends and you _can _trust us." She gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "I shouldn't do those things as well, but I have certain...affections towards people. I am close with Sonic as he and I are friends... Cream and I are close as well." she turned to Silver and pursed her lips together slightly. "You are my friend, too."

Silver tilted his head a little, trying not to look her too directly at her in both embarrassment and thought. He had a friend...a friend who truly cared about him... He smiled lightly. He liked the sound of that...

Before he could open his mouth to reply, a flash of light caught the corner of his eyes. "What the...?" he mumbled. He looked at Blaze quickly before he slowly got up and moved towards the glittering light. His eyes widened at what he saw.

Something green was sticking out of the ground. Something...sharp looking…like a broken shard of an item. It began to glow more fiercely the closer he walked to it. He knelt down and poked at it slightly before he pulled it out of the ground and turned it over. This...thing looked familiar. If only he could just remember what it was... "Is that what I think it is?" Blaze's voice called out from behind him. Silver turned his head to look at her curiously.

"You know what this is?" he questioned her. Blaze studied the object carefully before slowly nodding her head. She then bent down and picked it up, almost weighing it in her hand. It glowed the brightest from contact.

"It's...a piece of a Chaos Emerald," she murmured. Silver blinked in confusion and slowly got up as well. Once on his feet, he brushed himself off, but his eyes never left the shinning gem.

"Are you saying a Chaos Emerald can break? That's impossible." Silver argued lightly. Blaze frowned and shook her head at his words. "What do you mean?"

"It is not impossible Silver. The Master Emerald, a greater source of power, had the ability to break apart. If _that _can break-" She paused and moved her hand so that the Chaos Emerald was clearly in his view. "-Why can't this break as well?" Silver said nothing as he silently observed the magical rock. It would make sense that the rock had the power to break, but if so, why _did _it break... Or even worse, where was the rest of it. Sonic makes sure all Chaos Emeralds in his own possession were safely taken care of... Tails took care of his emeralds, too. Shadow must take care of his emerald, for he always had one by his side... Silver's eyes shot wide open.

"Blaze," he said slowly, his hand reaching out slowly to rest on the Chaos Emerald. "That is not ordinary emerald you have there..." When given a confused, suspicious glance, Silver bit his bottom lip silently before speaking up, his own amber eyes clouded with tension and nervousness. "...That's Shadow's Chaos Emerald..."

.

. . .

.

Annoyance, pain, fear and misery; there were many things that Sonic wasn't exactly a fan of. Sonic was, for example, never too fond of the idea of being around crazy fan-girls. They made him feel awkward. Amy Rose, one of Sonic's closest and oldest friends, was sadly in the category of 'crazy fan-girls'. It had been a sudden change that Sonic did not expect, but it _did _happen. Sonic's mind unconsciously brushed it off as a beginning stage of puberty, but as time went on, Sonic began to have second thoughts. Amy wasn't bad to be with; it was just distracting to an extent. Of course though, there were times when Amy was calm around him. It was very rarely, but there were times like that. This was strangely one of them.

Walking through a peaceful forest, Sonic and Amy were calmly speaking to each other. Eggman had just tried to attack Sonic with a new invention he was testing out. Sonic would have destroyed it easily, but Amy had come around looking for him. With her sudden appearance, the robot seemingly found the perfect thing to use against Sonic. Admittedly, it had just about worked, but in the end, he had been able to defeat it.

Afterwards, Amy had strangely been quite quiet, even when Sonic hesitantly told her that maybe it was best that he'd escort her back home. "Do you think Eggman will attack us again?" Amy asked worriedly, turning to face Sonic. The azure hedgehog cocked his head to the side and gave a sheepish grin.

"Don't worry about those things." he comforted her in his normal, cheerful tone. "I got it all under control!"

"If you say so..." Amy mumbled. Sonic confidentially turned his head to give her a wink.

"Well I did say so! That whole sentence was 'Sonic Approved'!" Sonic chuckled. Amy rolled her eyes at his cheesy words, but couldn't help but smile a little. "Anyway, I don't know why you're so worried. Usually by now you'd be giggling and all that kind of stuff on how I'm walking you home right now." Sonic raised an eye-ridge out of Amy's sight when she lowered her head, her face now solemn.

"I would be doing that right now, would I?" she asked weakly. She shook her head and looked over at Sonic, her face becoming more serious. "I...don't know what's wrong... I just feel like something is wrong." Amy blurted out shamefully. Sonic frowned at her words. _What does she mean? I don't sense anything... _

"Sonic!" Sonic yelped out in surprise at the new voice, but he then calmed down as he looked at his wrist instantly. He had almost forgotten the deal he had with Tails. The little rascal wanted to try out a new communicator device he had been working on and had yesterday asked specifically for him to wear one along with Knuckles. Tails even made one for himself. He was told not to take it off under _any _circumstances, but he didn't know the fox planned to _use _it!

"What is the matter, Tails?" Sonic asked the fox. Tails' face was scrunched up slightly, his expression dead serious.

"I have bad news, Sonic." Tails explained with a voice _too _calm for the hedgehog's liking. Sonic began to get worried as he tapped his foot softly against the ground. He gave Amy a quick comforting glance before turning his full attention back to Tails.

"What is it buddy?" Sonic questioned the fox. He began to make a mental list of things that could go wrong, but decided it was hopeless. Most of his thoughts surrounded around Eggman anyway and he knew that this time, it was not the case.

"That 'guy' apparently came to Westopolis again..." Tails began slowly. "I am too far to get down there right away, but I have heard enough information to pass on to you." He took a breath that almost seemed to shutter. Sonic stopped all motions and watched the fox's every movement. "Westopolis is under attack once again... In a matter of seconds, it will be completely destroyed."


	3. The Glitches of Life

There were many words that could describe what had passed through the now baffled hedgehog's mind, but none could truly express the shock he felt at that moment. _This isn't_ _quite like it was before... _That was the only common sense Shadow could think of as he watched the citizens around him live their lives gleefully throughout Westopolis. It was almost as if there was no care in the world. It was as if nothing could trouble their safety. It was as if everything was peaceful...too peaceful. "This isn't right..." he mumbled quietly, but enough so that his traveling...ally could pick up the sound.

"What was that?" 'Needlemouse' called over his shoulders as his eyes gleamed curiously. He had a dopey smile on his face and just like Sonic, it began to slowly get under Shadow's skin. "I still don't know what's wrong with you after your head, but how about some coffee, Terios? It does wonders to people with a headache...sorta..." At this request, Shadow paused, pursing his lips together in thought. _Since when does Sonic- _Shadow shook his head.

_-Anyone _like _Sonic drink coffee? _Never once did the hedgehog cast a glimpse of his cheery counterpart sipping at the soft, creamy liquid. Sure once in a while he himself drank the said substance himself, but that was only because at times his missions lasted longer than he would've liked. Rouge would've been exhausted after missions like those and asked is he wanted some 'coffee' while she was getting one for herself. Shadow had seen no point as to refuse such an offer whenever it was brought up.

"Since when did you drink such things?" he mused, but his voice was much more serious than lighthearted. Needlemouse stopped in his tracks and turned to fully face Shadow. Rubbing the back of his neck attentively, his expression contorted to one he used while deep in thought. After a while, he sighed and awkwardly chuckled.

"I dunno..." he admitted cheekily. "I remember being at Tails' place a lot and I had to stay up late to help test out some projects of his... I decided then to have some coffee while I went out for a break. It helped me stay up a great deal!" His smile then turned sheepish as he bent his head down a bit. "Man, that stuff is almost addictive!"

"Of course it is addictive." Shadow replied with a snort. He then crossed his arms over his chest and gave his look-alike a disgruntled glare. "It's a drug." Needlemouse paled a bit at Shadow's choice of words before giving Shadow a weak smile.

"Well if you put it that way, I guess you can say that." he laughed lightly. He then paused and titled his head a little. "So I'm guessing you don't want any?" Shadow ignored his semi-puppy-eyes and sighed. He placed his hands back to his hips.

"Just...hurry..." he sighed. He had to admit to himself that, in this strange world, he had no knowledge of where to go at all. For now he had to follow the faker...

"Great!" Needlemouse chirped, growing a devious glint in his eyes. Before Shadow could blink, let alone protest, he was being dragged with super sonic speed down the twists of turns that people could barely call roads.

After just a few seconds, Shadow found himself standing in front a small shop. He also began to smell the decent scent of liquid being boiled up with the certain flavoring known as coffee. Shadow brushed himself off while glaring at the Sonic look-alike, but the latter wasn't paying attention at all. Needlemouse walked up to the stand and casually leaned against the counter, where he was served almost instantly. After some conversing and time, the azure hedgehog came back with a metal tray that held two cups with the promised drink inside them. Shadow glared at the offering for a second before he hesitantly took a cup for himself. Needlemouse watched this with amusement.

"It's not like I'm gonna poison you." he pointed out. He set down the tray at a table near the duo before he turned to wink at Shadow. "If I wanted to, I'd have done it quite a while ago." he chuckled, taking a sip of his own drink. Shadow's eyes narrowed.

"What is that supposed to mean, Faker?" he growled at Needlemouse, using the pet name he gave Sonic. Needlemouse chuckled and replied with a humorous 'nothing'. Shadow growled once more before continuing to drink his beverage. _What's is so amusing?_

"Stop pouting, Faker." Needlemouse shot back with a smile. He then sat on a seat beside the table he was placed the tray on and repeatedly patted on an open seat beside him, begging the ebony hedgehog to accompany him. Shadow let out a loud breath of annoyance, but stomped to the seat nonetheless.

He didn't face the faker though. He let his eyes travel around the city and took in every detail of it. It seemed the same really, but the people were much more calm and relaxed here. It also seemed more crowded and larger than it had been before. The buildings around seemed to look worn out, but perfectly fine, as if the events of his father's destruction never occured. It made Shadow wonder just how he didn't recognize this slight change before. Surely there was no use to it, but he might have been able to figure out sooner that something was different.

Shadow sipped at the cup he held before he sighed and set it aside against the wooden surface of the table. If only he knew what exactly triggered this difference...

"Hey, Needlemouse!" a familiar, chirpy voice called out. Shadow slowly turned his head to see a small fox approach the two rapidly. His chest heaved with every tiring breath he took and his eyes drooped slightly.

"Hi, Tails!" Needlemouse greeted his 'little brother' as Shadow remembered he liked to title the kid as. The boy smiled up at his role model exhaustedly. Mumbling a shy 'hi' back, he arched his head around the blue hedgehog to look at Shadow, who stared at the fox with a calculating glance. "Oh, I brought Terios along with me. We just got some coffee! Want some?" Tails rejected the offer kindly with the shake of his head.

"What is Terios doing with you in the first place, anyway? I know you two are friends, but doesn't he have anything better to do?" Tails asked curiously and gave his older friend a slight tilt of his head.

Shadow turned his full attention to the young boy. _Friends? I do not have any 'friends'. I do have allies though... _Shadow squinted his eyes slightly in thought. _Well, Maria was my friend, but she was my only friend. I do have some people that are close to me though. I rather exclude Sonic, so that would leave Omega and Rouge. They are...close, but they are not my friends. I have no friends, for if I did, loosing them may be as hard as loosing Maria all over again. 'Post traumatic stress disorder' isn't something I want to live through again. Last time I did so, I nearly destroyed the entire planet that the humans inhabited._

"Well he was just doing nothing, so I decided: 'Hey, why not let him tag along?'. He was being awfully quiet and moody, but isn't he always?" Needlemouse joked, nudging his friend with his shoulder. Tails laughed lightly and shook his head. "He is also playing this weird game with me or something. I'm worried he might've hit his head. He called me _Sonic_!" The two friends snickered a bit at that, but the hedgehog they spoke of wasn't as cheery. Shadow narrowed his eyes and growled at the display of foolishness. _What is so amusing? This is nothing to joke about. I am most likely in a whole other universe, being mistaken as a counter-part of myself! Granted, they do not know such things, but they still shouldn't make the matter humorous. _

"So why are you here anyway?" Needlemouse's question brought Shadow out of his bothersome thoughts. Tails grinned nervously and then let out a sigh at the question directed at him. It wasn't as easy to answer the question to someone if one didn't exactly know how to explain his troubles himself.

"I have been having...trouble with a Chaos Emerald in my possession. It had been acting strange. It seems to be kind of weird and I would like if you could check it out, along with Terios if he could." he explained, scratching his head in thought.

"So we better get going, right?" Needlemouse asked, beginning to pace in spot eagerly. It was obvious why. He would get the chance to move around, even if it was a bit. This fact no doubt pleased him. He did not like to stay in the same spot for too long, everybody knew that. It was pure instinct that he felt he should continuously be on the move. Everybody had settled on the fact that it must have been in his blood. It was either that, or an instinct developed thanks to the robots he had to fight.

"So where are we to go?" Shadow questioned aloud. He eyed the two friends suspiciously as they exchanged glances. The two of them slowly raised their eyebrows and gave one another silent messages through looks. Needlemouse soon turned his attention to Shadow after receiving yet another glance from Tails.

"Where do you think, Terios?" Needlemouse laughed as he sauntered over to the spot Shadow stood around. "Tails' workshop of course! Where else?" he laughed wholeheartedly. Shadow did not see why this hedgehog was so happy though.

With an irked grunt, Shadow reached behind himself and attempted to grab at something. Shadow eyes narrowed in confusion. He continued to reach out to where the needed object should have been, but couldn't seem to find it. It was no where in his sight. It was nowhere around him in general. _My Chaos Emerald... It's not here!_

"What are you looking for, Terios?" Needlemouse asked, looking behind Shadow's back to see what exactly he was trying to do. Shadow instantly shifted his back away from Needlemouse and shot back a 'nothing'.

Needlemouse sighed at this answer, but reached behind himself, taking a glittering object from behind his own back. It was a Chaos Emerald. _It isn't mine though_, Shadow noted. The emerald Needlemouse held was yellow. "This will help, won't it?" he asked, throwing the emerald in Shadow's direction. The latter held his hand up and easily caught the jewel.

With a curt nod given to him, Needlemouse shuffled over to Shadow's side and rested his hand on his shoulder while he grabbed Tails' arm with the other. "Chaos Control!" Shadow bellowed one of the only familiar things he knew here, secretly hoping the words hadn't changed so that he wouldn't make a fool out of himself. Instantly, a white light engulfed the trio and all but Shadow closed their eyes to avoid being temporarily blinded.

In mere seconds, they were standing in the familiar scenery of a familiar terrain.

"Heh-heh, it's good to be home!" Needlemouse cheered out and stretched his arms with enthusiasm. The azure hedgehog then turned over to give Shadow a wink. "Wow, that trick sure does come in handy!" he chided and then began to turn to the only structure within quite a distance, Tails' workshop.

It began to bother Shadow as to why he couldn't yet understand the patterns of which certain people kept their familiar names, but Shadow decided to ignore it so far. If he'd be patient, he might find out the answers to his unsolved questions.

"C'mon Shads!" Shadow blinked. He could've sworn he heard Needlemouse beckon to him with one of the pet names Sonic made for him. He snapped his head upwards and focused fiercely on the grinning hedgehog.

Seeing Shadow now glare, Needlemouse's smile faltered a bit. "What's wrong, Terios?" he called out, his voice laced with concern and disappointment. Shadow grunted, trying to hold back his own slight disappointment. _So he didn't call my original name... _

Shadow walked over quietly to the open door that Needlemouse rested on and entered the small building. Once he fully entered, he could hear the door creak a bit before it closed shut with a small slam. Footsteps followed, so Shadow knew Needlemouse was following behind.

"Okay Tails, what have we got here." Needlemouse murmured, rubbing his hands together in eagerness. Shadow rolled his eyes at the childish display and focused his attention at the area around him. He had only briefly visited the fox's workshop once or twice before and for what he remembered, he saw no differences. Shadow turned his attention briefly to the yellow fox as the latter swiftly left to a small room around the corner of his house.

Shuffling and scraping sounds were heard as the child was no doubt moving items around to grab the jewel. The shuffling stopped abruptly and sounds of approaching footsteps echoed the quiet house. Soon the fox rounded the corner, blue Chaos Emerald in hand.

"I see no difference, it's just like my yellow one." Needlemouse stated blandly, eyeing the Chaos Emerald lazily. Tails sighed and turned to Shadow's direction. He held out the emerald with both of his hands, his eyes beckoning Shadow to take the emerald. Shadow slowly reached out and did as he was 'told'.

He threw the rock lightly in the air, testing it a bit. It seemed to feel the exact same in weight. Shadow brought the emerald a little closer then, observing the jewel as he slowly rotated it, looking for any marks or damages in or on it. It had none. He was beginning to get confused. What _was _so different about it? He decided to do one more test as he gripped the Chaos Emerald tightly and attempted to drain a bit of its energy for his use. That was when he felt it. It was small and sudden, but it was there.

The Chaos Emerald's usually pure aura seemed to darken and as the light engulfed it, it seemed more sinister than he'd like it to be. It almost felt as if the emerald was possessed. He looked up to study the two friends, but he never once stopped his actions with the Chaos Emerald. Tails' expression grew confused, yet his eyes gleamed knowingly. Needlemouse stood behind him, his eyes widened slightly in surprise as he took a few steps back. "The Chaos Emerald! It feels hostile!" he piped up. Shadow couldn't have agreed more.

Shadow then let out a small moan as he then dropped the emerald to the floor. He himself could sense his feelings lean towards more sinister thoughts like hatred thanks to the emeralds aura, but it began to dim out without any connection to the Chaos Emerald. "What _was _that?" Needlemouse murmured.

"I do not know," Tails admitted slowly. "Thankfully it only seems to do this with my Chaos Emerald. If it had being doing this with the others, we'd be in trouble." Tails then grabbed his emerald from the place Shadow dropped it hesitantly and walked over to a pod-like machine in one of the corners of the room. Once he had walked up to it, he pressed a button, which opened the front window-like entrance and placed the emerald inside. He then closed the machine once he checked that it was held securely inside.

"Thankfully it's only that emerald. That was pretty darn strange though." Needlemouse chuckled. He then turned to Shadow with a smirk. "Of course though, we'd be better off having all Chaos Emeralds just in case." Shadow grimaced slightly. He knew where Needlemouse was heading and he didn't like it one bit. "I'd say we should go Chaos Emerald hunting. Whad'ya say, Terios? Tails?" Tails seemed to perk up with interest at the suggestion and agreed to it right away. Shadow seemed less enthusiastic, but agreed to the suggestion only for the sake of this planet. He wouldn't let the humans die thanks to the glitches of a Chaos Emerald. Maria wouldn't have liked that one bit.

After Needlemouse squeezed a 'fine' out of Shadow, the three of them left the workshop with a 'Chaos Control' that Needlemouse had induced this time. The house seemed to be quiet after that, as one could expect. Water dripped slowly from a tap that wasn't exactly turned off and there was the soft humming of a selected few of Tails' inventions that were doing their work. The normal sounds one would hear in Tails' lab, save the metallic tinkering with Tails' absence. Suddenly though, the Chaos Emerald Tails had placed safely away seemed to glow, even if no other Chaos Emerald or creature with Chaos abilities were near it.

Slowly, something purple began to steam around the emerald, wrapping itself tightly around all the edges it could find. The emerald grew even brighter as the rock began to sink entirely under the purple mist. The emerald's light then began to falter though, as its power began to drain.

If someone was around to hear it, one could say that while this was going on, quiet, sinister laughter could be heard.

Afterwards, when the mist seemed to fade, the Chaos Emerald was left tilted on its side, drained from all power as well as color. It was just a cold, dull, gray rock.

* * *

**A/N: This chapter begins to scarcely introduce the antagonist of this story, or at least in some ways, point out that he _is _there. **

**If you can, leave a comment to say how I can improve or how I'm doing so far. That'd be helpful.**


	4. Through the Wreckage of Westopolis

A child screamed aloud, followed by a sharp shout from another. Many more were soon to follow as the couple of children that crowded around the area huddled together to gain warmth from the others around them. There were adults of course, but very few. Those few watched the children silently with worried, depressed and hopeless expressions across each face. Their face's lit up slightly though when a blur ran past them and skidded to a stop. It was none other than Sonic.

The hedgehog's eyes were down-casted in shame as he mentally counted how many people were exactly here. Twelve children and four adults... It was utterly pathetic really. "Why was I, Sonic the Hedgehog, too slow for something like this?" he murmured under his breath, crossing his arms in embarrassment and self-loathing as he ducked his head downwards, his eyes clouded with sorrow.

Tails was right. Westopolis was about to blow up and blow up it had. It had been a deadly blow to the citizens who lived there and very few survived. There were only about two to three other small groups this size that had survived, but the children were slightly oblivious. There were too young to understand the concept of what had just happened, at least that was the case with this group. The infants, toddlers and young children all wailed for their parents, most of which who were surely not coming back.

A little girl caught the attention of the blue hedgehog as she looked up hopefully at her idol. "Have you seen my mum?" she whispered softly, his face stretched with hope and slight happiness at the thought that he might have. This only made the hedgehog feel worse as he slowly shook his head, turning away from the child's angle.

"No, I have not seen your mother. Sorry..." he mumbled quietly. He heard a slight, distressed noise, but blocked it out. He couldn't bare for this type of weakness right now. He couldn't have done anything to have stopped this in the first place, nor could he have done something in general. He attempted to think that he had no say in this and this catastrophe couldn't have been prevented.

As Sonic crossed his arms and looked back to the ruins of Westopolis, he heard familiar heaving noises coming from behind him. He rose and eye-ridge and looked over his shoulder to see the familiar form of the yellow fox-boy land swiftly on his feet, his expression pain-stricken as well. "This is horrible. Have you seen all the damage that was done?" Tails ranted softly, which earned a small, curt nod from the older of the two.

"Were any of us caught in that explosion, too? One of our friends?" Sonic questioned and decided to turn fully towards the youth's direction. The latter scrunched his face in thought before he shook his head solemnly.

"No, I do not believe so. Rouge would've been there, but without Shadow... I do not think she would have been qualified to go there on her own. Amy is somewhere in that forest you left her in and no one had even seen Knuckles... Everyone was everywhere but Westopolis." Sonic nodded and closed his eyes. That's good. It's bad enough to have these poor people's lives taken away like that... I couldn't stand it one of my friends had died thanks to this issue, too... "Shows how bad a normal human being can be besides Eggman, huh?" Tails joked weakly. Sonic held his head and gave it a little shake.

"I would've preferred if the guy just wanted to take over the world or something and not go mass genocide on innocent people." Sonic stated. Tails' couldn't have agreed more. "-But seriously, wasn't Shadow supposed to take care of that guy? Isn't this kinda his fault?" Sonic went on, tapping his chin in thought.

"I wouldn't say that." Tails then sighed dramatically. "Remember, Shadow has been gone-"

"-For days, yada-yada..." Sonic resorted back, rolling his eyes. Tails let out another sigh and turned to watch the adults try to huddle the children together. His eyes suddenly widened as his head snapped to Sonic.

"Sonic...?" Tails started slowly as he eyed his friend hesitantly. Sonic gave a slight nod for Tails to continue. "I had taken Cream with me just in case she's get hurt somehow with this guy on the loose. She looked so scared, that I couldn't just leave her there... With all this drama, she's probably upset in the back of my plane. I was thinking that maybe I should check up on her..."

"Of course," Sonic said, giving Tails and thumbs-up and a weak smile. "Go ahead; I have some of my own business to take care of." With that, both pals split up in their own direction, with Tails heading for his plane and Sonic running towards a forest that was beside the previously titled Westopolis. Speeding up, Sonic could almost feel his arms go a little numb with the velocity he was at.

After running for half a minute or so, Sonic almost let out a squeak as Amy somehow tracked him down and stood her ground firmly in his path. He shuffled his feet so that they induced enough friction to slow him down, but couldn't do so in time, so instead of standing safely on the ground, he landed on Amy. He let out a moan and blushed as he hurriedly got up, brushing himself off while doing so. In the corner of his eyes, he could see Amy mirroring his actions. "What are you doing here, Amy? Don't you know it's dangerous! It's even more so to jump in front of a speeding hedgehog's path!" he cried out, moving his hands to rest at his hips.

"Well sorry." Amy cried out with a 'humph'. "I was trying to find you to let you know that we may have a serious issue on our hands."

"What are you talking about? Westopolis was just blown up! What can be more serious than that? How is this situation not serious?" Amy rolled her eyes as Sonic continued to rant. She decided that this was just his way to blow of his steam while in a serious problem. They didn't have the time for this though. Even Sonic had to blink as Amy spat out his name sharply.

"Huh?" He blinked in slight surprise. He then sighed and regained his posture. "What is going on then?"

"You'll see. Follow me, Sonic!" Amy explained as she ran over to her hero's side and caught a hard grip on his arm. When she quickly made sure her grip was secure, Sonic didn't even have the time to complain before he was being dragged across the forest and beyond by his 'number-one fan-girl'.

.

. . .

.

Hurry up you guys! Run here faster! Silver sighed as he rested against the wall of the small room he stood in. It was Rouge's office for G.U.N. After he had found the Chaos Emerald, he immediately reported his new-found information to Rouge, who told him to go get Sonic. He had found Amy while searching for the blue blur and decided that she could bring him along to where they were as well as he could, if not better.

He moved his hand from his side to his chest, where the shattered rock piece began to shine softly in the said hand's grip. "Hmm..." he murmured as he closed his eyes, letting the Chaos Emerald's familiar warmth flow through him slightly.

Feeling the energy spike slightly, he instantly shot his eyes open and placed the rock to his side once again, glancing at the door where he knew both Sonic and Amy would enter from any second now-

"Hey, stop that already! Your grip is too tight! Where'd you get to be so strong!" he heard a familiar, slightly nasally voice echo through the halls.

"Oh, quit your whining already! We're almost there!"

"Then why can't you let me go!"

"Fine!"

"Thank you!"

The door shot open and showed the two familiar beings that he had expected to show up.

Amy stood there, her arms crossed as she glared at her traveling partner, who winced at the arm that Amy no doubt dragged him with. In his other hand, he held a Chaos Emerald, the object of which spiked his own, or should he say Shadow's, shards limited energy. "Why couldn't we have just used Chaos Control?" he whimpered and attempted to regain his posture fruitlessly.

"Hello, Sonic." Silver finally spoke, a hint of amusement in his voice. Blaze echoed the greeting softly and Rouge just waved dully, but she did have to add her special flirtatious wink she saves for Sonic and Shadow, for those two were the only ones who do not fall for her flirtatious tricks. Shadow ignores them, while Sonic usually flirts back.

"Silver, Blaze, Rouge..." Sonic greeted, his face lightening up a bit. "D'ya hear about the news?"

"Westopolis was already destroyed in my timeline..." Silver muttered softly, looking downwards. "The news doesn't bother me exactly, though the deaths of those citizens do."

"Hmm, a shame that city was destroyed. Westopolis was a nice city..." Rouge sighed, twirling one of her boots in a circle aimlessly on the floor. "It had the nicest jewels to steal, not to mention the horrible security that made my job so much easier..."

"I thought you said you bought your jewels now." Sonic shot back, holding back a smirk of irony. Of course she wouldn't stop her normal antics, but still...

"No, I still steal. What else could I do in my spare time?" She then gave Sonic a devilish smirk, which Sonic responded back cheesy grin. "I just buy jewels to make it look like my ever-growing collection of gems could possibly be from my salary, as well as them being bought. G.U.N. wouldn't appreciate me being caught stealing from jewelry stores and I hate lectures."

"Of course you do." Sonic resorted playfully. Rouge snorted and crossed her arms.

"It's not like you don't."

"I never said I didn't."

"Guys..." Silver murmured, getting agitated by the amount of time they were probably wasting. Sonic scoffed at the interruption.

"Always the party-pooper, Silver." he teased with a wink. Silver tried to ignore that...

"I found this." Silver suddenly stated, getting straight to the point as he tossed the shard at Sonic's direction. Sonic caught it with ease and brought it down to his level. From behind, Amy looked at the rock curiously, but Sonic's eyes shot back to glance at Silver with a knowing expression.

"A Chaos Emerald." he stated calmly, but knew that it wasn't that simple.

"It's Shadow's." Silver pointed out and then motioned his head towards Blaze and Rouge who both stood to his right. "Blaze and I found it, thought it was Shadow's and Rouge was here to confirm that theory. It was broken when we found it. We also couldn't find any other pieces from it." Sonic frowned and observed the evidence he held.

"It is strange though. Are all emeralds able to break that easily?" Blaze questioned curiously. Sonic shook his head as a 'no'.

"Not exactly... It's possible, but you usually need a large force or power." Sonic explained and tossed the emerald back at Silver, who mumbled a 'thanks' when he had caught it. Sonic turned to Rouge and frowned slightly.

"So, you think this all has to connect with anything?" Sonic asked, resting his chin on a hand as he gave her a perplexed look. Rouge sighed softly and looked out from a window that was located beside her.

"Maybe...I just hope he's okay." she muttered, her lead lowering as she gazed farther outside. She almost flinched when Amy ran up to her and gave her a comforting smile as she also rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, Rouge! He is Shadow after all!" she pointed out enthusiastically. Rouge bit her lip softly, nodded her head and then continued to look out the window. From the corner of her eyes, Rouge saw Sonic's gaze snap from Rouge, to Amy, to both Blaze and Silver.

"Even with this issue, we may have more important tasks on our hands, sorry Rouge." he added the last part, giving his bat-friend an apologetic glance, which she caught but didn't answer back to. He sighed softly and then proceeded to continue. "We have a killer on our hands that we have to take down. That and probably Eggman soon will have another trick up his sleeve to pull."

"Eggman? Why would he want to attack at a time like this?" Silver questioned with a deep, confused tone in his voice. Sonic shook his head in both amusement and irony before he turned to fully face the younger hedgehog.

"Exactly when we catch that guy, with all the damage he has done, Eggman will probably see this as a time to freely attack." he pointed out, shrugging his shoulders. "I dunno for sure, but that sounds like something he might do. It is Eggman." Silver sighed and nodded his head. He had grown up 'knowing' a descendent of Eggman's of who acted very similar to his ancestor. What Sonic said sounded reasonable.

"So how 'bout we go take care of some stuff. First, we'll all help the survivors of the explosion and then we'll get some more back-up one could say... Like Omega and Knuckles, then we'll take it from there." Sonic explained. Silver and Blaze nodded, both accepting of the plans, but both other females stayed silent. Amy soon brightened up though as she thought of something.

"Then we can go out on a date!" she cried out as she ran over and hugged her idol tightly. Sonic gasped as he suddenly lost air a bit too quickly for his liking and desperately tried to shove her off.

"Yes! Okay! Maybe! Just...let...go...can't...breathe-" Sonic gasped like an idiot. Amy blinked at his words and let him go, her face now contorted to a sheepish grin.

"Oh, sorry, Sonic! I didn't mean to hurt you!" Sonic groaned and rubbed his store stomach indiscreetly. His eyes shifted once more to Rouge...

"Mhmm... How about you go wait for me outside along with Silver and Blaze. Rouge and I will catch up." Amy gaze him a long, confused stare before she nodded and left the room quietly, followed by both Silver and Blaze. When the door closed shut and the footsteps' echo died off from the near-by hallways, Sonic turned to face Rouge, who gave him a calculating glance, but stayed quiet otherwise.

"C'mon, Rouge. We have to do this right, so you have to put your effort into this work! We'll find Shadow, don't worry. That guy always comes up." he grinned and cocked his head innocently to the side. "He's both your friend and mine and I am not even taking his disappearance that badly. I know you guys are okay friends, but you've got to focus. You have Omega, right? Knuckles and I are here as well, even if Knuckles isn't too fond of you."

Getting only a small 'hmm', Sonic sighed and walked over to the bat. Wrapping his right arm around her, held out his Chaos Emerald in front of the both of them with his left hand and snickered. "How about after this all, you and I both steal the Master Emerald together? I heard Knuckles' expression to that is hilarious. If so, I wanna see it badly!" Rouge raised an eye-ridge and turned her head to face Sonic. The image of Sonic trying to steal the Master Emerald with her was indeed...interesting...

"You sure, Big Blue? Knuckles isn't exactly the best person you'd want to see angry if you do not know what you're dealing with when it comes to the Master Emerald" Sonic shrugged his shoulders and chuckled whole-heartedly.

"I think I've got a clue from past problems, but nonetheless, I can still try." he let go of Rouge and opened the door. Before he walked out, he turned to look back at Rouge with a curt nod of the head. "C'mon, let's go then."

When he left, Rouge slowly got up and smiled lightly. Sonic always tried to make everybody feel better, no matter whom the person was.

'I am not even taking his disappearance that badly'... She didn't exactly know why she was so worried... Shadow was her friend though and being gone for so long... Both friends cared for the others' safety, like all friends would, but it was just that... She sighed and shook her head. Team Dark was awfully quiet and empty without Shadow around. Even Omega could see such a thing. Something just felt wrong though...

She turned her head once more to look out the window to where the scenery was quiet and almost fully abandoned. Silent, brooding, lonely looking...

"Shadow, I hope you're okay out there..."

* * *

**A/N: More Shadouge is soon to come, but other relationships shall be made as well, as the story focus' on many different point of views from many different characters. Like said before, the plot shall take a while to fully unfold, as this is a semi-mysterious FanFiction. If you have the time, please leave a comment on how I could improve and such. Constructive criticism is fully welcomed.**


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